Wednesday, April 26, 2006

SEVEN on Dean, Dems and the DNC

"Dean is likely focus of UVM symposium on making and breaking of political heroes"
"One of former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean's tougher media critics during his meteoric 2004 presidential campaign said Monday that Dean deserves credit for his recent work as chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

"I was surprised and impressed that he took the job as DNC chairman," said Howard Fineman, Newsweek's chief political correspondent and regular commentator on national television and radio talk shows. "I'm impressed by his organization and attention to detail."-from the Burlington Free Press (VT).

"Democrats unveil 6-point plan"
"NEW ORLEANS — Democrats cast themselves Saturday as the party that will change the nation’s unpopular course — but hedged on precisely how they would do it.

The Democratic National Committee used a three-day meeting to unveil a six-point statement labeled as the party’s vision for governing — yet it avoided such thorny issues as the Iraq war or immigration.

Party leaders put off further discussion of a Democratic plan for Iraq until later this year — and then it will be done in private, perhaps after the November elections for control of Congress.

The party blueprint, called “The Democratic Vision,” will be rolled out in a national door-knocking campaign on Saturday. It promises honest and open government; security; energy independence; economic prosperity and educational excellence; expanded health care; and retirement security."-from Knight Ridder.

"Burner’s momentum moves WA-08 into top 14 competitive races nationwide"
"That’s right, WA-08 is more competitive than high profile CA-50, in which the much ballyhooed Francine Busby is fighting to succeed the recently convicted Duke Cunningham.

Burner had been maligned by Republicans (and ignored by some Democrats) as a “third tier” candidate with little chance of defeating Reichert, but the “Burner Buzz” (not to mention her impressive fundraising performance) has opened eyes in the other Washington. Locally, the GOP echo machine has graduated from snidely dismissing Burner’s candidacy, to ineptly attempting to smear her."-HorsesAss.org.

'Illegal' McGavick funds alleged
"After Mike McGavick became a U.S. Senate candidate but while still chief executive of Safeco, the company agreed to give him a lucrative "golden parachute" that amounted to an illegal corporate campaign contribution, the state Democratic Party contends.

"The corporation's 'sweetening of the deal' for Mr. McGavick after he became a candidate was a blatant violation of federal law," state Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz charged in a complaint being filed with the Federal Election Commission today.-from the Seattle P-I.

"Democrats Want All Ship Containers Inspected"

"Ridiculing the Bush administration's port security plans, Democrats on Capitol Hill on Tuesday called for the overseas inspection of every shipping container headed to the United States.

The Democrats, who are energized by the embarrassment caused to President Bush by the failed plan by a Dubai company to take over the management of six American port terminals, see the debate on ports as a central element of their election year push to make domestic security an issue that they can call their own.

At a news conference on Tuesday, a group of Democrats announced plans to offer amendments to measures in the House and Senate to require the comprehensive container inspections at all ports overseas."-NY Times.

"In Washington, Cantwell Holds Lead"
"According to a new Strategic Vision (R) poll, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) is clinging to an 8-point lead in her bid for reelection, currently beating Mike McGavick (R) 48% to 40%. These numbers are congruent with a recent poll giving Cantwell the same lead."-Political Wire.

"The need for a political soul"
"Brad Friedman of BradBlog informally interviewed Russ Feingold several days ago at a dinner at which Feingold spoke, and Freidman recounted Feingold's answers on various topics of interest. The most revealing was Feingold's answer as to why he did not consult with the Democratic Senate caucas before announcing his intention to introduce his Censure Resolution:

That decision came, he said, after the end of the year. He had been encouraged by the tough stance the Democrats had taken concerning renewal of the Patriot Act before the session ended, but found that during the break their resolve seemed to have disappeared and they returned to their "foxholes"."Foxholes?" I interrupted..."Yes, I said, foxholes," he answered back quickly, with a clear inference that he had chosen the words quite deliberately.

Once he'd felt the Dems had again lost their resolve to fight, and once the information concerning the warrantless NSA spying had come to light, he'd decided the right thing to do was to simply take action. And he did."Yes," I followed up, "and don't get me wrong, I strongly support your effort there, but might you have gotten more support from your Democratic colleagues had you consulted with them first before announcing the Resolution publicly?"

He explained that had he done that, the matter would have then been vetted by "Democratic consultants" who would have decided to kill the idea entirely before it could even be proposed on the floor. "Our party," he said, "is too beholden to Democratic consultants."-from Glenn Greenwald.




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